


Emporium

by wingeddeanmon



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Aziraphale's friends are jerks, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jock Aziraphale, Miscommunication, No Transphobia, Nonbinary Crowley (Good Omens), One Shot, Other, Punk Crowley, They/Them Pronouns for Crowley (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 15:11:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21322234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingeddeanmon/pseuds/wingeddeanmon
Summary: Aziraphale's friends ditch him at the local goth store. The employee working is friendly, and he soon develops a crush.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 169





	Emporium

Aziraphale nervously eyed up the store he was in. He couldn't remember the name of it, and music he couldn't identify came from the speakers. The lighting was dimmer than the rest of the mall and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to it. There were lines and lines of black clothing stocking the shelves, each folded into a new pile of black cotton. A few unfamiliar TV characters' faces were plastered on shirts and… action figures? Or were they bobbleheads? He stepped further into the store, following after his friends, and soon got lost looking through a clearance rack of band tees and shirts with tacky, sarcastic quotes on them.

When he finally looked up from his daze of teenage angst, edgy-ness, and ripped jeans, his friends were gone. A quick search around the small store turned up nothing. His friends had abandoned him. He went over towards the only other person in the store, a slim punk dressed in all black with a tuft of bright red hair that was folding shirts and restocking the shelves. A black lanyard adorned their neck, and they had several piercings in their ears, one of which was a silver star-shaped stud.

"Excuse me," Azriphale said politely, "Would you happen to know where my friends got to?"

The punk paused their task for a moment and slightly turned towards him. A frown tugged at their lips, and soon they went back to what they were doing.

"Nope," they said.

"Did you happen to overhear anything they said? Or where they went?" Aziraphale asked.

"Nope." They said again.

Aziraphale frowned for a moment. He looked back at the punk and noticed the shirt they were wearing. It was teal and had a pixelated, cartoon bunny skull with x's over its eyes in the center of it. There were a few pins on the lanyard, which also had cartoon skulls decorating it. One pin had "666" in jagged red letters written on it, another was of what Aziraphale could only guess was some rock band he had never heard of, a rainbow flag, and a they/them pronouns pin.

"Well… thank you anyway," Aziraphale said, preparing to leave.

The punk sighed a bit.

"Look, I heard them talking about going to that candle and lotion place, but unless they're your ride, it's not worth it." They said, looking back over at Aziraphale with a knowing look.

"What do you mean?" He asked, frowning.

"They ditched you in a store you've clearly never been in before-"

"You don't know that!"

"...You're wearing a letterman jacket and you looked like a surprised goldfish when you walked in. You've never been here before." They stated then shook their head. "They're not very good friends if they just ditch you somewhere you don't know."

Aziraphale was quiet for a moment, thinking about what they had said. He nodded to himself, figuring they were right, then stood up straighter.

"Thank you for your advice," he said and left.

  
  
  


A few days later, Aziraphale went back to the store. He looked at a few things nervously and ended up quietly sifting through a bin of nail polish. The punk went over after a bit, a small smile on their face.

"You'd look good with red," they said, causing Azirphale to jump a bit at the unexpected intrusion. They raised an eyebrow at that but smiled a bit more, gentle and warm. "Sorry."

"No, no, it's…" Azirphale frowned. "Red?"

"It matched your jacket," they said.

Aziraphale nodded a bit and slowly picked up a red bottle of polish.

"I never learned your name before," he said.

They snorted.

"Crowley."

"Aziraphale."

Crowley smiled and went to a box sitting on the counter and started to stock the shelves.

"You should get the black too," they said.

"Why black?" He asked.

"You can't go wrong with black."

Aziraphale nodded and picked up another nail polish and, after earning Crowley's approval, purchased both bottles.

  
  
  


Aziraphale returned to the shop again. It became a pattern. He would poke around for a bit, and Crowley would advise him on music or clothes and they would talk. Usually about school work work, but sometimes Crowley's extensive plant collection came up. Slowly, Aziraphale's tastes expanded into this new subculture he didn't know about a few weeks prior. Crowley would occasionally give him a playful bump, and Aziraphale would blush and pick up an object close to himself and ask for Crowley's opinion of it to change the subject.

Crowley was ringing up the newest shopping spree, smiling faintly, when they said,

"So when are you going to ask me out?"

Aziraphale blinked in surprise, taken aback.

"Excuse me?" He asked, feeling the blush start to creep back up.

"Oh." Crowley got quiet. "Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed."

They finished checking him out and quickly slipped into the back after the transaction was done, not wanting to embarrass themself further.

Days later, Aziraphale returned with a box with a grow-your-own cactus. He went to Crowley and set it in their hand. Crowley raised their eyebrow and Aziraphale quickly shook his head.

"Just… look inside," he said.

Crowley frowned a bit but so. There was a small note written in sloppy, rushed handwriting that had a few words started and scribbled out before finally writing, _ "Will you go out with me?" _

Aziraphale waited nervously as Crowley stared at the note, not showing any response. He swallowed and shifted on his feet. Crowley gingerly folded up the note, taking time to align each crease, and tucked it back into the box and closed it.

"So?" Aziraphale asked quietly.

"You got me a cactus." Crowley said, still not conveying any emotion.

Aziraphale nodded a bit.

"...yes?" Aziraphale said, his confusion clear in his tone and expression. "I thought you liked plants?"

Crowley sniffled a bit, and suddenly tears were in their eyes. They leaned forward, into Aziraphale's space, and placed their palms roughly onto the counter in front of them.

"I fucking _love_ plants."


End file.
